C&C Labs News Wire

— Sunday, November 29, 2009 —

Jon Van Caneghem, EALA's choice to head the C&C brand, recently gave an interview to Gameustra, in which he talks about the future of C&C and his goal of expanding the franchise to a wider, less serious, audience.

"What you're seeing with all the social gamers on Facebook... they are actually already playing strategy games whether they know it or not," he said. "Taking a franchise like Command and Conquer and expanding it to a wider audience is part of the strategy." He added, "All the knowledge and background is here at this studio."

Forgive the editorializing, but if EALA thinks the future of C&C is in any way connected with Facebook, you won't see me here for long. Further, if EALA's new leader thinks that--with zero people from Westwood Studios to begin with and having fired most of the recent C&C team--EALA has all the background it needs, I don't think I'll be missing much.

— Thursday, November 19, 2009 —

Over at our in-house mod, C&C 3: The Forgotten, we've been very hard at work over the past few months, and we're nearing completion of the in-game art, as well as our special and still-secret feature (to be announced soon, we promise). To this end, we've got some new in-game screens to show off for you guys, including some featuring our newly-announced additions, the Tick Tank, the Crane, and the Relay Station.

The Tick Tank, an old Nod stalwart from the Second Tiberian war, is the main battle tank of choice for The Forgotten. As the player, your actions in the campaign will help acquire it. Though somewhat outdated, Tick Tanks resilient armor, relatively cheap price, and dependability make them solid units in The Forgotten's army. As an added bonus, because so many of The Forgotten fought for Nod in the last war, their commanders are capable of getting the most out of these reliable old tanks, which are capable of burrowing into the ground for added protection.

The Crane and the Relay Station are more straightforward structures. The Crane permits additional building construction, while the Relay Station is essential for utilizing advanced technology and for communicating with the civilian population. Through judicious use of Relay Stations, Forgotten commanders can radicalize and inspire locals to aid their cause, a dangerous force multiplier if left unchecked. Here are four new screens. Two more await you on the Media page.You can learn more about the mod on its site.

Forgotten Attack Force

Crane (by Nielsen)

Tick Tank Battle (by Nick Allain and Kane Nash)

Relay Station (by Helge and Kane Nash)

— Sunday, November 15, 2009 —

According to a Nasdaq report, EA Chief Financial Officer Eric Brown said that EA plans to mitigate some of their thousands of announced layoffs by opening more positions in cheaper development centers.

"We will be hiring back positions in low-cost locations to maintain capacity," he said at the BMO Capital Markets Digital Entertainment Conference in New York, which was broadcast over the Internet.

Naturally this could affect C&C's future in a major way. With many reports stating that the C&C team was cut, it appears the only way forward for C&C might be from a much smaller development studio, with much less capacity and support.

— Tuesday, November 10, 2009 —

The future of Command and Conquer after C&C 4 is in serious doubt, after an announcement by Electronic Arts yesterday. Despite announcing record game revenues of 1.15 billion USD, EA revealed that it was restructuring its games apparatus, and cutting 1,500 jobs. The effort will save $100 million per year, according to the company.

According to a report by game industry site Kotaku citing several anonymous sources, "those cutbacks include studios like Pandemic, Maxis and nearly the entire Command & Conquer team." Two discussionthreads on the official C&C forums on the matter were locked. Community Manager Aaron Kaufman posted today on his Twitter feed that he was not laid off: "Just wanted to let you guys know that I am safe, haven't quite hit my nine lives yet =) But a somber day nonetheless, to say the least."

There are other reports that at least one former EALA employee has confirmed the C&C team's closure in private social networking groups.

EA CEO John Riccitiello said of the decision, “We are making tough calls to cut cost in targeted areas and investing more in our biggest games and digital businesses.”

— Tuesday, November 3, 2009 —

Some time has passed since my release of Fort Morgan but at last we see the completion of my next map for Red Alert 3. Design based upon Drummin's brilliant Art of Defence map Dark Fortress For Generals Zero Hour.

Whilst the transition to RA3 doesn't offer so many great options and variations as the original map, there's plenty of fun to be had in meeting the demands of attack and defence, working in a team with combination choices of factions. The map is now available in our downloads section and I'm sure you will enjoy applying the different strategies needed to win. Scripting is quite minimal with emphasis on the environment and design. Preview the map by using the thumbnails below.

Author's Description: This map design is based on Drummin's AOD map Dark Fortress for Generals ZH although I have changed the setting quite a lot. The fortress has been built in the area of an old and extinct volcanic eruption, which happened to appear above the surface of the sea.

The action scenario is set at night.

The Keep, in the centre of the map, is occupied by 2 co-operative players, whose task is to defend the position as best they can. Although the Keep looks a little cramped, there is ample building space on there to maintain a decent defence. Basic power requirements and static defences are granted to the 2 defending players at the beginning of the game, but you will need to maintain and defend those power installations, otherwise your defences are down and you are open to attack. In addition to Ore Nodes on the centre, there are Oil Derricks to supplement funding.

The outer fortress has a symmetry and is occupied by the other 4 players, who have to destroy the central installation by working together as a team. Each outer position also has basic power requirements granted and some strategic defences, but the only income is from Ore Nodes only. The outer positions are built with a Naval Yard, situated in the specially protected areas next to the base.

Superweapons are disabled, so you will need skill and strategy to create your forces and plan your attacks, whichever position or faction you choose.